our son Finn

about this blog

We've recently moved to a new house with a large yard, full of new gardening opportunities - and lots of trees;

...the garden journey continues.

Come spring 2014 I'll be moving many plants from my previous garden to our new space, starting over again with a new perspective, and new meaning to everything I do.

We're still close to Lake Superior, still five blocks away but now with Hillcrest Park and the Port Arthur Ridge in between. A very different landscape.

We love to cook, and use fresh herbs & veg from our kitchen garden. For the culinary curious: amy's cookery

I like to read books about horticulture and honey bees, literature and writing, ecology, biology, botany, history, the history of gardening, and forestry (urban mostly), food and agriculture, photography, art......

all images are my own, taken by myself in my gardens - unless otherwise cited

"Indeed, you'll be happiest if you learn to thinklike a tree: setting down sturdy roots (the soil prep), manufacturing your own food (the leaf mold and compost additions to the soil) and committing to the long term (the five or so years it takes to getestablished)."

LORRAINE JOHNSON

Composting Council of Canada

Sunday, October 19, 2008

To determine when to pick shell peas, check the pods by eye and feel. If the pod is round, has a nice sheen, and is bright green, it is ready. If the seeds have made ridges on the pod and the pod is a dull green, it's past its prime.

You can pick snap and snow snap peas at any time, but they're tastiest when the pods still have some play around the peas when you squeeze the pods.

Pick snow peas before the peas start to enlarge in the pods.

Frequent harvesting increases yields. Pick every other day to keep the plants in production. Pick any pods that are overly mature; if left on the vine, yields will diminish.

Peas keep best in the shell, so don't shell them until just before cooking.

There's been a lot of talk lately among the FSRN about ways we can teach ways to "extend" our growing season. Preserving, to take full advantage of everything grown an obvious direction. The basics are simple, but the possibilities for personal touches to recipes are inexhaustible.

The Anglo-Saxon word for peas was 'pise' or 'pease' as in the nursery rhyme, 'pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold.'